Would an Anemone Benefit from a Refugium

[pledosophy]

I am setting up my lil 90g RBTA breeding tank and was wondering if a refugium would benefit the anemones at all?

I do feed table shrimp now every other day, and with the protein skimmer and carbon dosing I have very good water quality despite not doing a water change for over a year.

But I was thinking specifically about the food element for the Anemone. Is the increased pod population going to be beneficial or is the food just to small?

Thanks

 

[Liquid360]

Yes, pods help keep Nems happy and healthy. They don't "need" them, but I'd never keep a nem tank without a good refugium and pod population. I posted previously, in my experience, reefers DONT spend near enough time focusing on microfauna and too much on the macro. Anyone can have good lights and chemistry, but what separates the good from the great is microfauna like pods and algae.

 

[pledosophy]

Yes, pods help keep Nems happy and healthy. They don't "need" them, but I'd never keep a nem tank without a good refugium and pod population. I posted previously, in my experience, reefers DONT spend near enough time focusing on microfauna and too much on the macro. Anyone can have good lights and chemistry, but what separates the good from the great is microfauna like pods and algae.

How do pods keep Anemones happy?

 

[Liquid360]

How do pods keep Anemones happy?

The pods are in the water at various stages of development and death. They will be consumed by the carpet. It removes some nutrition from the water column and if there are pods there it eats them. In my experience tanks with very strong pod populations fair far better than without. This holds true not only for Haddoni, but all life in the reef. A strong pod population and zooplankton is the basis for any healthy reef aquarium, but pods are a direct source of nutrition for anemones.

 

[Liquid360]

As though on cue, the postman left this on my doorstep just now. I restock my Amphipods every few months.

 

[Liquid360]

 

[davocean]

Well, as light is their main source of energy I can't say pods will do all that much for an anemone, but of course can't hurt either, maybe they get some pods, but really your fuge would be more beneficial by improving water quality

 

[Liquid360]

Well, as light is their main source of energy I can't say pods will do all that much for an anemone, but of course can't hurt either, maybe they get some pods, but really your fuge would be more beneficial by improving water quality

Here is an article... it applies to all nems, Haddoni included.

"these animals obviously need to be fed regularly to survive. As I mentioned above, all available evidence suggests that the anemones found in the hobby probably feed on small zooplankton and organic detritus. If you have a well-developed deep sandbed with lots of critters and/or a refugium design for your tank (especially if you develop a good culture of amphipods, copepods and mysids) they should do fine with this constant food source.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/6/inverts

 

[davocean]

Well, still very misunderstood there are many theories out there, but this article claims them to be genetically half animal and half plant, and it is known that they use the zooxanthellae in order to process light into usable energy.
I'm not saying that they can not benefit from food, just that they can go w/out it for who knows how long, as long as they have adequate light.
I've known many anemone keepers that do not spot feed at all and have anemone's in mixed sps tanks w/ pristine water conditions, so what they may filter in those tanks would be pretty minimal.

BTW that article seems to be focussed primarily on tube anemone's, not considered a host anemone species.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140318113816.htm

 

[Liquid360]

Yeah that's why I said it applies to Haddoni as well. I'm going to have to disagree with you. I'll keep it at that. I know without a doubt that a portion of ALL Anemone nutrition is obtained from organisms inside the water column.
We just have to agree to disagree [emoji6]

 

[Liquid360]

Let me ask this, water flows through the entire anemone, yes? How exactly could it not consume pods? I'm not saying they hunt pods, but they sure as well benefit from consuming them.

 

[davocean]

If you re-read my first comment maybe you'll see that I'm not exactly disagreeing w/ you, as mentioned it may or may not do much of a difference in getting pods so much as good light and the fuge helping give the good water quality they need, most nem keepers will credit these two things as being the most important needs to keep an anemone healthy, and most agree light is their main source of energy, and I'm sure if that was all they were given you could still have a healthy nem.

I do agree the tank overall and most fishes will benefit, as they do require food, and pods are a healthy source.

The tube anemone studied in the article you posted is considered generally nocturnal, a very different animal than host anemones, and does require food to thrive and survive as mentioned in the article, so somewhat similar to gorgonians, some being photosynthetic and some not, similar animals w/ different needs.